Redemption
by WaylonTFD
Summary: In a world full of monsters, shunned by humanity and locked away deep underground... a human will enter by complete accident and learn just what it means to be a monster. After becoming friends and even adopted into the royal family, monsters begin going insane and the Royal Guard seems incapable of handling this threat. It's up to Chara Dreemurr to help save this underground.
1. Chapter 1

Book I: The Vigilante

Chapter I

With every choice you make, and every action that you take, a universe forms. A universe that exists solely to play out the results of alternate choices you could have made. Some universes end in ways even better than your initial decision, while others, others end in despair.

This never ending, infinite system of universes existing in pure separate harmony is called the Multiverse Theory. However, one question seems to go unanswered every time the Multiverse Theory is brought up, does each choice have a certain ending? For instance, someone may try hard to achieve something, does this effort also count as a choice? What if they gave even slightly less effort? Can someone aware of their fate change their fate? And if they succeed, were they destined to succeed? What if they're destined to fail? Can they ever succeed?

Of course this is all taken in great speculation, as the Multiverse Theory is, but one thing is for sure, the universes that succeed in the greatest ways or fail in the absolute worst ways all have one thing in common. Determination.

Universes in which the happiest of endings occur, occur through an absolute determination of a being that controls the timeline itself. The same can be said for the opposite. Endings that were brought to a disgusting and brutal end were also caused by a being with enough determination to alter the timeline.

Imagine having this ability... the ability to go back and make a different choice, just because you're determined to see the outcome. It's a power I'm envious of.

Maybe... possibly... this power. This power could let me come back.

But enough about theories, it's time to visit a new time. A timeline where a different choice was made, so, let us begin.

Oh, and if you're reading this, yes YOU. Don't change it this time, just let it play itself out. Oh who am I kidding... we both know you can't help yourself...

Well, let us begin.

...

"I'm going to eat these buttercups. I'm going to get very sick. Please, when I die, take my soul, and go to the surface. Monsters deserve to be free, you'll have enough power to free them all."

"I... I don't like this plan Chara."

Chara was a young girl wearing a green long-sleeved shirt with a single yellow stripe wrapping around and brown pants. Her hair was brown and almost shoulder-length and her eyes were blue.

"Asriel, you don't want them to suffer anymore, do you? Please, let's just do this," Chara pleaded.

Asriel was her brother, but not by blood. Chara has been adopted into a family of monsters after falling down a hole located on Mt. Ebott. Asriel resembled a goat, with small, still growing horns and all white fur. His eyes were bright green and he wore the same clothes that Chara did, after all, she had been borrowing them from him. Although he doubted if she'd ever return them.

"Chara I don't think this is a good idea!" Asriel said again.

"Azzy you know what they did!" Chara argued. "Monsters used to live in harmony with humans... but humans began to fear them! They locked you all down here and the only way to get out is to either break it with seven human souls, or pass through with one human and one monster soul! If you take my soul, you'll be able to pass through, kill six humans, and then come back and set them all free!"

"I... I don't want to hurt people!" Asriel argued back.

"It's to free hundreds of monsters! Six people is a measly sacrifice! They deserve it for all they've done!"

"Chara no!" Asriel stated, tears rolling down his face. He hated confrontation.

Chara picked the buttercup. "Don't cry... Azzy," she sounded much softer now. "You... no. All of you will soon be free, don't you agree?"

Asriel dropped to his knees and began full on crying. "It's not freedom without you Chara!"

"Oh Azzy," Chara said with a slight giggle. "You've always been such a crybaby."

Chara began to eat the buttercup, a flower that was poisonous if eaten.

Something welled up inside of Asriel. Normally he'd just go along with whatever Chara went along with, but he wasn't about to lose his only sibling.

He shakily stood up, adrenaline coursing through him. He felt dizzy and even nauseous. He couldn't describe exactly what he felt, but he knew what he had to do.

"Spit it out!" he shouted out at the top of lungs, startling Chara.

Chara began chewing faster, and Asriel immediately tackled her to the ground and shoved his furry hand into her mouth.

"SPIT IT OUT!" he cried. "SPIT IT OUT NOW!!"

Chara, unsure of what to do, spat out the flowers and gasped for air as he took his hand out.

"Azzy get off of me!" she yelled.

Asriel hugged her and would not let her go.

"Never do something that stupid again!" he said, still shaking.

"But then... how do we free the monsters?" Chara asked.

Asriel shook his head. "I don't know! But this isn't the right way, we'll find another way. I promise, but promise me you'll never do something so stupid ever again!"

Chara sighed before hugging him back. "Ok Azzy."

"I promise."

...

"So that's why you blame yourself," she said as she listened to me tell the story of the time Asriel stopped me from killing myself six years ago.

I nodded. "Please don't tell Mom about that Undyne. She'd probably flip."

Undyne was a ridiculously muscular humanoid monster with a head resembling a fish. She was covered in blue scales and had red hair. Instead of ears, she had fins. She had sharp teeth and yellow eyes. Or eye, rather, one was covered by an eyepatch, she had lost it at some point but would never say how. Undyne was covered in armor and was the Underground's hero, the Captain of the Royal Guard, and my best friend. Oh, and the Underground was what we called the place where all the monsters lived.

"Yeesh punk, it ain't easy keeping secrets from my boss y'know," she said, looking stern. She then gave a big giant smile. "Aw who am I kidding? Let's just say you owe me."

I gave her a discreet smile. "Thanks Undyne."

"Hey don't mention it." Undyne said before stopping to think. "So that means five years ago... The reason Asriel did what he did..."

"It was for me," I replied. "That little girl fell down and accidentally provoked a Froggit. She was tiny, didn't know any better. The Froggit freaked out and accidentally killed her with magic. Asriel happened to be there and he took that soul, he then went to the surface, and he never came back."

"You think he'll ever come back?" Undyne questioned.

"I do," I answered. "My mom wants to believe it too, but she says I should face reality," I said with a bit of a laugh. "No... he's coming back. He's just held up, he may be a crybaby but he never breaks a promise."

"Well I like your attitude!" Undyne laughed. "You should join the Royal Guard! Strong girls like you could help with all these rogue monster cases that've been popping up."

I couldn't help but laugh. "My dad would literally kill me, and you. Do you ever think things through Undyne?"

"Listen here punk," Undyne said threateningly, but with a smile on her face. "I suplex boulders for shits and giggles, with might like mine I don't need brains. That nerd shit's why we have people like Dr. Alphys!"

I giggled. "Yeah, I'm glad she knows what she's doing, otherwise we'd all be out of luck."

"You got that right," Undyne agreed.

My phone began ringing out of nowhere.

"Speak of the yellow devil!" I joked. "See ya later!"

"Yeah stay out of trouble princess," Undyne teased.

"You too!" I nodded as I ran back to where Undyne couldn't hear my phone conversation.

"Alphys, what's up?" I answered.

"Th-There's a g-g-group of three m-monsters from Snowdin st-stealing G in Waterfall!" she said. Alphys couldn't help but stutter, it was annoying to most people, but it didn't really bother me that much.

"What, why? Is this related to the rogue monster cases?" I asked.

"I-I think s-so. But you've g-gotta move f-fast. The Royal Guard w-will be alerted any s-second," Alphys warned.

"On my way," I responded as I ran out of the area.

Luckily, I had been at Undyne's, so I was already in Waterfall.

Waterfall was one of six regions of the Underground. It was known for being a very dark environment, decorated in luminescent flowers and rocks. It, as the name would imply, was also covered in many streams, ponds, and, of course, waterfalls. It was definitely one of the prettiest, if not the prettiest, places in the Underground. The rocks that lit up the top of the caves twinkled like stars and it always felt like a starry night wherever you went.

I soon made my way up a considerable ledge overlooking a large pond beneath me, and the area where the suspects were, and immediately I saw them. A Snowdrake, a Chilldrake, and an Ice Cap. A Snowdrake was a small dragon creature that resembled a snowflake, it loved to make puns. A Chilldrake was a Snowdrake that wore sunglasses and overemphasized skipping school. The Ice Cap was an even smaller monster that wore a cool icicle cap that it wanted everyone to notice.

I put on a hoodie that looked just like my green-striped shirt and put a blue bandana over my mouth and nose, this helped conceal my identity. After all, if my dad found out I was illegally trying to help the Royal Guard, he would probably kill me. I then put on an earpiece, so that Alphys could keep me updated.

"R-Remember Chara, n-normally you could easily talk these monsters out of f-fighting. B-but that won't work! Fight them until th-they're too scared to fight back!" Alphys warned.

"Right," I said as I put my knife into a holster attached to my left leg.

"And b-be careful!" Alphys continued.

I let out a laugh. "Alphys it's me you're talking about!"

I then stood up on the edge of the cliff, and took a swan dive off of it.

"Chara no!" Alphys cried, but it was too late.

OwO what's this? This is a link to a song. Listen to it while reading to enhance the reading! (I promise it won't all be nightcore)

https/youtu.be/BByMzI1YjKA

I hit the water, swam up, and jumped up, immediately pursuing the Ice Cap.

"Y-You're going to give me a h-heart attack!" Alphys complained.

I let out a laugh. "Just be glad you made your tech waterproof."

I drew my knife as I approached the Ice Cap.

"Hey you, what's up with the petty thievery, don't you have better things to do?" I asked it.

It glared at me, "Get out of my way."

It wasn't acting natural..., in fact, I'd never heard of an Ice Cap issuing a threat. And I noticed one other weird thing as well.

Immediately the area around me went to black as the monster initiated a battle. A little red heart appeared on my chest.

"Y-You still know how monster battles work Chara?" Alphys asked.

"Of course, it'll cast magic at me. If it hits my soul, this little heart, it does damage. Once I've taken enough damage, I die. I have four options, Fight, Act, Item, Mercy, and fights always occur in turns, I attack, and then they attack," I summarized.

"Good, n-now don't lose focus!" Alphys warned.

I leveled my knife, it was just a toy, but that was another rule in the Underground, anything used with the intent to hurt would do damage. So even stupid objects could hit hard.

Immediately I struck the monster, doing more damage than it would've liked.

Almost immediately the Ice Cap asked for Mercy. "It's not worth dying over."

I threw out a little orb, which shot out a net that nullified monster magic, trapping the Ice Cap, something of Alphys' design. Afterwards, I hit Mercy, sparing it and ending the battle, the world was refilled with color.

"Cya," I said as I moved quickly to take out the Snowdrake.

"Y-You're closing in, you're doing g-great!" Alphys complemented.

I wasted no time in initialing the battle as I approached the Snowdrake, drawing the world into black again.

I hit it once, but it wasn't defeated so easily, and it launched a barrage of ice magic at me in a pattern. I moved around carefully until the monster's turn ended, successfully dodging the attack before slicing at him again.

"I yield!" it cried. I captured him as well and then left him as I spared him and moved on.

"Man these guys aren't even a challenge!" I laughed.

"B-Be careful! Undyne has been alerted and will be there any m-minute! Y-You d-don't want that," Alphys warned.

"Don't worry Alph, I'll get out of it!" I said, not really easing her worry.

I soon closed in on the Chilldrake, who looked a LOT more angry than the others.

"Why don't you chill drake?" I asked jokingly.

"I will kill you and everyone you love," it threatened.

"Wh-What?!" I questioned, taken aback. I had never heard a monster say something so awful...

The world turned to black and Chilldrake launched an arsenal of ice attacks at me, way more forceful than usual. I had to backflip in order to dodge it correctly, how did it attack first?

Up on a ledge, her arms crossed and her knight's helmet on, Undyne watched the battle play out below. The vigilante she'd been tracking fighting the rogue monster thieves.

"This outta be fun," she said to herself with a smile.

I jumped in and slashed it as icicles began falling from the ceiling, the turns were moving fast. It was almost hard to keep up. I jumped back, only to take a hit directly in the soul.

"Chara be c-careful!" Alphys shouted. "Use an Item!"

I pulled out a capsule and ate a little ball. Alphys has created them to help heal me if I needed them, it was just like monster food, but more convenient. However using an Item meant I couldn't Fight this turn, so it was back to dodging.

The monster unleashed even more ice crystals and I had to react way quicker than normal. I began approaching it as it's turn ended and slashed it again, but it still wasn't done.

I was hit in the soul multiple times this turn, and it wasn't looking good.

It's turn ended and mine began, but I wasn't sure what to do, I couldn't keep this up forever. Before I made a choice, however, a large spear impaled the monster straight through, and the monster scattered into dust. Dust meant the monster had died...

The world was brought to color and Undyne was standing across from me, I jumped up nervously.

"What's the matter punk?" she asked as she drew another spear. "You scared?"

"Who? Me? N-Never...," I said nervously.

"U-Use the voice disguiser or she'll recognize you!" Alphys warned.

I quickly hit a button and my voice sound much deeper now, definitely not normal.

"Listen kid, I saw that fight. You've got guts, but you're sloppy," Undyne said bluntly. "I want you to join the Royal Guard. In return, I'll forgive your crimes and you can help the underground in a legal fashion."

"And if I refuse?!" I replied defiantly.

Undyne's smile faded as she pointed her spear at me. The Spear of Justice, that was her nickname. "Or else I'll end this in a way neither of us want."

"You killed that monster!" I pointed out.

"Yes, monsters rarely commit actual crimes, and when they do," Undyne answered. "Well, we don't want other monsters losing their determination. You know what happens right?"

I nodded, monsters only had limited amounts of determination. They weren't like humans, that's why humans are so much more powerful than they are. If they lose the will to live, or "run out of determination", they die. It actually made sense why Undyne killed the Chilldrake.

"Monsters fearing for their lives is dangerous, and I don't like thinking things through as is. That's what nerds are for!"

I dropped down a pellet on the ground, a thick smoke began pouring out of it.

"I'd love to join Undyne, I really would. But I can't, for reasons you can't understand right now," I said before using the smoke to get away from her.

...

I knocked on the large metal door in Hotland, an area underground known for lava lakes and volcanic activity, another one of the six regions in the Underground. The large metal door was to the largest, and only, laboratory in the underground. Alphys opened it up and ushered me in.

https/youtu.be/6ZnFoMTHc8o

"Oh... I h-haven't even had time to change m-my clothes," she complained.

I laughed. "Alphys you wear the same lab coat every time I see you, I'm starting to doubt you ever change clothes."

She blushed. "I-I do!" she said defensively before going silent. "...sometimes."

I looked over that. "Ok so let's go over what we know."

"W-Wait! Did you steal m-my smoke p-pellets?!" she yelled out.

I rubbed the back of my head nervously. "O-Oh you... saw that?"

"I have c-cameras all o-over th-the Underground, of c-course I did!" Alphys said nonchalantly, but even her nonchalant sounded anxious. "Th-Those were highly experimental!"

"Well they did the trick!" I laughed out.

Alphys shuddered. "Yeah? W-Well it probably just gave U-Undyne extreme allergies."

"Oh...," I said in realization. "Well it's a good thing she's a tough one then?"

Alphys sighed.

I then remembered what I was going to say. "Oh! The rogue monsters! They have yellow eyes!"

Alphys seemed shocked. "I-I would've noticed that! Th-They definitely didn't!"

"Are you calling me a liar?!" I questioned.

"N-No, well... m-maybe?" Alphys responded.

She could tell I wasn't happy, and quickly changed course.

"W-Well I'll ch-check the footage! Then we'll know for sure!" she reassured.

"Alright well my mom's gonna be worried sick if I don't go home for dinner, I hear she's really excited about her snail pie, so I'd better go snag a bite," I said before walking out the door.

"I-I thought you h-hated snail pie," Alphys pointed out.

"You're right, I'm gonna fake eating it and then just eat desert!" I admitted while walking away.

On my way back I couldn't help but wonder. What was wrong with those monsters? After they pleaded for Mercy, they reverted back to who they were before... It was the same case every time, was there some sort of outside force causing it? I couldn't be sure. The only thing I knew was that I needed to keep helping. If I let Undyne kill every culprit, then we'd never find out what was really going on.

I hadn't been doing this vigilante gig for long, but that Chilldrake was way more powerful than normal, and I knew I had to get better at fighting if I wanted to keep doing this. But how? Maybe if I could learn magic like monsters do I'd be able to hold my own.

That wasn't a good option though, there hadn't been any wizards since the humans locked the monsters away here in the Underground, I guess there was no choice but to get trained. But Undyne wouldn't do it, if she got caught she'd be in trouble. The whole thing was kind of a mess.

I soon reached New Home, the city in which King Asgore Dreemurr, Queen Toriel Dreemurr, and their princess lived. My dad, Asgore, named all the regions of the Underground, he... wasn't good at names at all.

I walked into our small house to be greeted by my parents sitting at the table.

"Oh Chara! Welcome home!" my mom said excitedly.

I laughed nervously. "Yep, I come home every day Mom, you don't need to make it sound like some 'grand achievement'."

"You know your mom is a bit of a worrier," dad said, laughing a bit.

I sat down and my mom didn't look to happy. In fact, both of them looked as if they could cry.

"Is... something wrong?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Chara I think...," mom said before she became unable to speak. My dad went to her and held her hands before continuing her statement.

"We have something rather serious to share with you," he continued.

"We believe," my mom tried to start again, but she still couldn't say it, instead she began... crying.

Asgore sighed before finally spitting it out. "Child, Asriel's not coming home."

Readability Level: 11-12th Grade

Time Taken: 3.5 Hours


	2. Chapter II

Book I: The Vigilante

Chapter II

https/youtu.be/EMSLYwHNMBc

"Asriel! You're back!" I greeted as I walked out of their home to meet him.

Curiously, Asriel didn't reply, and instead I was met with awkward silence. Something seemed different about him.

"Dad and I managed to pick a bunch of flowers for Mom. He was pretty excited about it," I laughed, a little nervously.

"I-I'm glad," Asriel said, however his voice even sounded different.

"Is... everything ok Rei?" I questioned, Rei was one of the nicknames she had given him.

He finally came into view and immediately I was taken aback. His appearance had changed completely, he didn't look the same. His horns had grown out completely and he all of a sudden looked much older. He also felt a lot more powerful...

"Hey Chara...," he greeted. "I... can finally keep that promise I made to you."

Now knowing what he meant at that second, before long she was standing with her parents and Asriel as he explained what had happened.

"I was watching the barrier when I noticed a shift, it rippled. I knew that if the barrier, the wall of pure human magic that keeps us trapped here, rippled, then something must have fallen through. So I went to the ruins to investigate," Asriel explained. "Unfortunately, when I arrived, I was met with the body of a very small human child."

Mom gasped, tears already in her eyes. She had a huge soft spot for children, and this already weighed on her.

"How did the child die?" Asgore, my father, asked.

"She was wandering around, and accidentally disturbed a Froggit. Frightened, it fought back and ended the child's life. Even a weak Froggit was enough to kill her..."

Asriel's demeanor seemed different. He was never this serious, I wasn't sure what was going on.

Asriel sighed. "I absorbed her soul, and now have the power necessary to get to the surface."

"Asriel where is the child's body?" Mom asked.

"Oh... uh..., I left it there, c'mon I'll show you," he responded before going towards the ruins. He wasn't even walking, he was levitating off the ground. I couldn't understand what was happening at the time.

This happened one year after I had tried to kill myself, and five years before now. He promised me he was going to come back, and now I was being told that he wasn't.

They had told me before that maybe I should put less faith in the idea, and that maybe I was being childish for holding to that idea, but never had I been told that he wasn't. And what's worse, that Asgore and Toriel, King and Queen of the Underground, my dad and mom, were telling me this.

"What do you mean he's not coming home?" I asked in an irritated fashion.

"Calm down child, let us explain what we mean," Dad said, trying to calm me down.

"Calm down?!" I yelled. "He promised me that he was going to make it back and you're just going to tell me he's not?! How do you know?! How can you say that?!"

"My child, I know it's hard to believe, but please I promise we have reason," Mom said, once again trying to calm me down.

I fell silent, unsure of what else to do.

Dad continued. "Chara, I am not aging anymore... I haven't aged these last five years."

"What?" I questioned, unsure of what he meant. "What does that have to do with anything?!"

"Listen well, my child," Mom continued. "Before a child is born of boss monsters, as Gorey and I are, boss monster males age to their prime, and they do not age until they give birth to a child. When that child is born, the father ages with his child."

"So?!" I responded impatiently.

Dad sighed. "What Tori is saying is that when that child dies, the father stops aging again."

"So you're saying... he... died?" I asked, trying to keep tears from forming.

"Child I know this is painful, but I want you to know we're here for you," Mom tried to say, but I had already run away. I couldn't let them see me cry.

I ran to my room and slammed the door before laying down, face down in the pillow as I let out a slight whimper.

I couldn't let people see me cry... they'd both seen me cry before, but I didn't care. It was a medical condition, when I cried, I cried blood. It was ugly, and made me feel ashamed. Even around monsters, it made me feel so insignificant... like a mistake.

But I also couldn't stop the tears... He should have listened to me! All those years ago! If he had just taken my soul I could've went with him, I would've been part of him! I could've saved him...

These thoughts were bombarding my mind, but I knew one thing. I hated humanity. Every part of it, even myself. Just as I did then, I do now. They deserved to die, they deserved to suffer. Everything in me wanted them to die, all of them. I had repressed so many of the memories I had living on the surface that I couldn't remember anything about what it was like to live with humans. I just know it was terrible. It was what drove me here, in a world of monsters that cared so much about a human they didn't know. It sickened me how much they loved me, but I know I loved them with all of my heart. I wanted revenge, I wanted justice, I was determined to bring their end.

I don't know what else I thought, as I fell asleep. All I know is I heard a strange voice wake me up. "Chara... Please, wake up! You are the future of humans and monsters!"

I woke up, and it was early in the morning. Not that you could look at the sun or anything, I just happened to have a clock. Luckily the Underground was lit up very well in most places.

I sat up and looked around the room. I rubbed my eyes, realizing there were blood stains down my face. I then looked at my pillow, which was now stained with blood, I sighed.

I got up and went to the sink and washed my face. I changed clothes and went out to the back. Surprisingly, my mom was sitting out there.

I silently walked and sat down on the ground by her, she had a fire in front of us. Boss monsters has amazing control of fire. It wasn't hot, I could stand inside of it in never be burned, instead it was pleasantly warm.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked me calmly.

I sighed, "More or less." I wasn't really up for conversation.

"I've finished your new pillow case," she said, handing me a pillow case the same color of the one I had on my bed. "Be sure to throw that one away, no one needs to see it."

I almost wanted to cry again. I called Asriel a crybaby so often but it seemed that I became more like him as the days passed.

"I hope you like it child, I know you don't like pink so I made it a much better color. Wouldn't you agree?"

I smiled a little bit. I didn't just hate pink, it terrified me. Every time someone had tried to get me something pink I'd have a panic attack, I didn't even know why. It was probably something I had repressed.

"Thanks, I love it," I muttered.

She then changed the subject, and it definitely threw me through a loop.

"So how is Dr. Alphys?" she questioned.

"What do you mean?!" I said, taken aback.

She laughed. "I'm not as unobservant as I may seem child."

I sighed. "So what now?"

"If you continue on as you do, you're going to die child. Forgive me if I haven't always understood why you do things, but I believe you're trying to get stronger to fight humans, are you not?"

I nodded, "And to help monsters, but yeah, I want to get justice for the monsters here."

My mom shook her head. "You'll never beat them as you are now, humans and monsters fight differently, you understand this do you not?"

"Of course, monster fighting is turn-based. But power I gain here should translate there right?" I asked.

"No, child. You only gain power through exp, or execution points. Something you get only through killing others. This increases your LV, your LOVE, or Level of Violence, this only separates you from being able to care for others. The more you kill, the easier it is to do so."

"So... I'd have to kill someone?" I questioned.

"You could get stronger another way," Mom said.

"How?!"

"Fight as a human does, it will also give you experience dodging, and since that's all you can do while a monster is attacking you, it could help."

"Why... are you telling me this?" I finally interrogated.

Mom laughed. "You've been doing this for about a month now, have you not?"

"How did you know?"

"Because I've never seen you smile harder than you have all month. You seem to be finding your own place," Mom explained.

"But isn't what I'm doing illegal?" I mentioned.

"Oh your father has always been silly when it comes to rules, I won't say a word. But you have to promise not to do anything too dangerous! You could get hurt!" she warned.

"I promise Mom!" I said before thinking to myself. "But... how do I practice human fighting."

"I'll teach you."

"What?!" I shouted, astounded.

She laughed again. "You know, I was the queen even while we lived on the surface. It was a must for me to learn to fight in both manners."

"That... doesn't make a lot of sense," I thought aloud.

"I suppose it does not, but come child! If you get hurt I will heal you," she said confidently before going to an open area. I had just noticed she was wearing tight-fitting clothes rather than her usual dress... did she plan this?

I stood up to face her and she became more intense. "Now prove to me that you are strong enough to survive."

https/youtu.be/d4VocUOB5tI

Mom's hands and feet were engulfed in flames. "I will use a mixture of monster magic and human fighting techniques, just do your best."

I knew a little of human fighting, but I knew I had to be careful. She could cause both physical damage and damage to my soul. Even though she seemed so calm and quiet, I wasn't sure what to expect. I grabbed my toy knife before we began.

"Here I go!" she said before she punched the air and a wall of fire shot at me.

I narrowly dodged it and she came in for the hit. I jumped back and slashed at her with my knife, hitting her directly, although it didn't do much damage, she had way more health than I was expecting.

She kicked me square in the soul, doing an immediate five damage as I hit the ground.

The damage she dealt was healed quickly as I stood up.

"You are panicking too much, understand your situation child," she pointed out.

"I... what?"

"It's your turn, fight back," she said.

That's when it hit me. This wasn't a human fight, she only said that to scare me.

"What are you playing at?" I questioned.

"So you figured it out," she smiled. "I can't teach you to human fight, but if you want to set us free, it will be by your determination, not fighting prowess."

"So why come up with that whole lie about human fighting?"

"You were hurt, not physically, but emotionally. If I had tried to fight you any other way, you wouldn't have fought back. You had no determination. But now I think I've gotten your attention, so let's get serious."

The world turned black and white and I realized she hadn't even started fighting yet.

I smiled. "Alright Mom, let's see what you got."

I slashed again, doing slightly more damage this time.

"Good," she replied before launching an array of fireballs at me that spun around me.

I dodged them very narrowly, but a few did hit me. She was way tougher than I expected.

"You would've died already child," she acknowledged as she healed me. "Surely you don't intend on saving all monsters with this power?"

I became annoyed. I slashed again, doing a good amount more damage, knocking her under half health this time.

"Good, now try this," she said before I saw a flame in her eyes.

Soon fireballs began raining down from above and it suddenly felt a lot warmer... ok it was hot.

I was pelted down pretty quickly, trying to dodge it was next to impossible, and my health dropped to one before her attacks began missing me entirely.

She had stopped attacking.

She walked to me and the world regained color before she picked me up off the ground.

"Your determination isn't strong enough child, but I know it will be. Keep that fire in your eyes and there's nothing you can't do," she said.

"Thanks," I said, getting up.

I wasn't sure why she was helping me, but I was thankful for it. Before I thought I could handle any monster, but now I had second thoughts.

"Remember child, it would take every soul of every monster in the Underground to match the power you have on your soul. Humans are so much more powerful than monsters, because of your determination. You will do fine, my child."

Those words held me in a trance. I still didn't understand why humans were so scared of monsters. I was so lost in thought I almost didn't feel my phone vibrating.

I excused myself and walked away, answering my phone.

"Ch-Chara! Un-Undyne's in danger!" Alphys said nervously. She sounded terrified.

"I'll be right there."

Readability Level: 9-10th Grade

Time Taken: 3 Hours


	3. Chapter III

Book I: The Vigilante

Chapter III

"Child, will you come here for a moment," a voice from the other room called out.

I had been in the Underground for about a month at the time, and was adjusting quickly to my new life there.

I got up off of my bed and walked to Toriel and Asgore's room. It still amazed me how gentle they were, they almost seemed naive or clueless.

"Yes Mom?" I said, coming into the room.

She waved her hand excitedly, ushering me in, and I stepped in.

"Do you remember that pink dress you were wearing when you fell down here?" she asked.

I started dripping sweat at the thought. "Y-Yeah... why?" I... already didn't like this conversation.

Well... your first ball is coming up, and you can't wear Asriel's clothes for it... so...," she said before turning around, shaping me a beautiful pink dress, sowed perfectly. It looked even nicer than what it had looked like when it was given to me. "I went ahead and patched it up with some material, I think it would look really good on you!"

I couldn't laugh, cry, talk, scream, I froze. I was terrified, and bloody tears began raining from my face.

Toriel soon realized what was going on and hid it quickly, unsure of what was wrong. However, the moment I couldn't see the dress anymore I fell to the ground.

"D-Don't make me... Please!" I cried out quietly.

Toriel rushed towards me and wrapped me in a hug. "No child, you don't have to wear it if you don't want, please calm down!"

I hugged her back, and then went to my room as quickly as possible, that was the first time she had seen me cry, she had probably thought I was a monster. And to make things worse I was half-certain Asriel had seen me, what would he think of me now?

There was a knock on my door.

"Go away," I said, annoyed.

"Chara I'm coming in," the voice said, it was clearly Azzy.

I sighed as he walked in and sat next to me, he didn't really say anything, but I knew he didn't really know how to shut up.

"I didn't know humans could cry blood," he started.

Immediately I was irritated. "So what?! What, you think I'm some sort of monster now?! Huh?!"

Asriel looked confused. "What? You're not a monster... Monsters don't bleed silly. No I think it makes you look a million times cooler!"

He was being sweet, but that only annoyed me further. "So now I'm just a crybaby? Humans ruined your whole life and now you're helping one, it doesn't make any sense!"

Asriel shrugged. "Sure they did bad things... but I like to think that they're not all bad."

This caught my attention. "What do you mean?"

He blushed. "Well... I do think you're the one of the best parts of my life. So therefore humans couldn't have ruined my whole life! Cuz you're making it better!"

I missed him...

...

"Alphys where is she?!" I shouted into the microphone as I ran through a back area of New Home, it lead out into the Core, which went to Hotland and eventually to Waterfall. All of these were of course the other regions of the Underground.

"Th-Three V-Vulcans m-m-met her in Waterfall and f-forced her into Hotland, it w-won't be long before her armor heats up and sh-she won't be able to f-fight!" Alphys warned.

Hotland was an area known for its large lava lakes, and temperatures some monsters couldn't survive in even if they wanted to. I was told the only reason I could survive as a human was through determination. Luckily human's have so much determination normally that any minute amount makes them much more powerful than most monsters, so Hotland wasn't an issue for me.

However, in Undyne's case, her determination didn't matter. Her armor would get so hot that it would literally begin baking her, and as a fish monster... well it wouldn't be pretty.

"I-I put a button in your ph-phone! P-Press it now!" Alphys said.

I looked at my phone and noticed a button. ...When has she put this on? It wasn't on yesterday.

I pressed it and the phone turned into a literal jetpack.

"Alphys when in the hell did you do this... and... how?!" I questioned.

Alphys chuckled a bit. "J-Just go! There's no time!"

I put on the jetpack and it began basically flying for me, I didn't have to do much, which was nice considering I didn't know how to fly a jetpack. Now I was just praying it didn't drop me into a lava lake.

Luckily that wasn't the case and I arrived right outside of Alphys' lab. She opened the high-tech metal door and threw me some weird ball things.

"Wh-When you beat them, s-squeeze this over Undyne's head, it'll rehydrate her, now go!" Alphys said.

The jetpack turned back into my cellphone and as many questions as I had, I had to leave it at that and I took off for the entrance of Hotland.

https/youtu.be/wmciSu0nNzQ

As I approached, I saw Undyne still fighting. There were seven Vulcans and one Tsunderplans. Vulcans were tiny little monsters that looked like miniature volcanoes, they splashed lava wherever they went and loved helping people... even if they weren't actually being helpful. A Tsunderplane was a much more powerful monster, it... it's exactly what it sounds like. It's an airplane looking monster that loves everyone but absolutely refuses to show it. Regardless taking on that many monsters at once had to be pure suicide, even for Undyne.

Undyne shot out a bunch of magical spears, but the she was drying up quick, and Vulcans lava wasn't helping the situation.

"Alphys look, all the monsters have yellow eyes," I pointed out.

"Th-They look normal to m-me," Alphys argued. "A-Are you sure you're seeing it right?"

"Positive, something isn't natural about these monsters, and I don't know what it is," I added.

I hurried in to assist Undyne.

"What are you doing? Don't you know I'll kill you!" Undyne threatened at the sight of me.

I nodded, my voice disguiser came on and it deepened my voice. "I don't think you could take me and eight monsters, so how about you just stay with me and we fight later?"

Undyne wasn't the type to think things through, but she caved, begrudgingly of course.

"Fine you take four and I'll take the oth—" she started, but she immediately went woozy and passed out.

The Vulcans and Tsunderplane surrounded me and the world turned black, my soul became visible. Fight, Act, Item, Mercy. Those were my options. I knew Act wasn't a good idea, because these monsters weren't their normal selves, but... what if I could remind them of their formal selves? I knew I stood no chance Fighting this many at once, I probably wouldn't even survive one turn. I only had once choice.

"Ooh Tsunderplane! I didn't know you liked Vulcan so much!" I teased, hoping something would come out of this.

"What?! I-I don't!" it yelled out instinctively. It's eyes even shifted back to normal for a moment before going back to yellow. "I-I mean, shut up you! We're here to end you!"

So it did work... But not for long, what if I kept trying? That would've been my turn, but it appeared that they were distracted and I was able to take another turn.

"Oh Vulcans! Did you hear that? It doesn't sound like she appreciates your help!" I added, egging them on.

"What?!" one Vulcan said.

"But we want to help you!" another one said, they all began looking sad.

Tsunderplane realized it was in a tight spot, as the Vulcans began getting a little hostile.

"Oh I'm sorry! No I think you are all amazing!" Tsunderplane said quickly, but her eyes were still yellow.

"One more," I thought to myself.

"But do you like them?" I interrogated. "I mean... you definitely HAVE to love them if you had to grab seven of them!"

"Yeah!" the Vulcans agreed. "You HAVE to like us!"

Tsunderplane's eyes turned back to normal as she broke completely. "I-I just don't like saying it! Come on, let's go somewhere else! I don't want to do this anymore!"

The Vulcans, seeing her hostility fade, became normal again too.

"I know a place you can all help out!" Tsunderplane said as they followed her excitedly.

The battle ended and the world regained color as I sighed.

There really was a way to spare them without violence, but why were they always so stubborn? I had to put these thoughts on hold as I realized Undyne was rapidly losing health.

I tried picking her up, but her armor burnt me immediately.

"U-Use the ball, remember?!" Alphys reminded me.

I chuckled a bit. "Oh right, sorry I'm a bit distracted..."

I grabbed the little ball she'd given me and squeezed it over Undyne, and immediately she stood up.

She looked at me angrily. "Where did they go?!"

"Relax," I said. "Apparently there's a way to get them to stop fighting. I just made them remember who they were."

"They still need to be punished!" Undyne argued.

I sighed. "Undyne please use your brain for the first time in your life. These monsters aren't just randomly deciding to commit crimes. You can't tell me the friggin VULCANS of all monsters decided to go on a rampage out of thin air! I think these are attacks by someone!"

Undyne immediately changed subject. "I told you to stop doing vigilante work."

"Well I guess you're not the only stubborn mule in the Underground," I snapped back.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't arrest you now," Undyne threatened.

"Because if you wanted to, you'd have done so already," I said. "You saved my life, I saved yours, now we're even. Now get out of here before your armor bakes you into a fish stick!"

Undyne huffed and began walking away slowly. As she left, she muttered something to me. "If I see you again, I'm not showing mercy."

As she left, I carefully and stealthily followed her, making sure she made it back ok. Once that was done, I began heading back to Alphys' lab.

"Hey I'm heading back," I said. "I want to talk to you about those monsters, I think I have some information you could use. Maybe we can stop these monsters from getting hurt or worse."

"S-Sure, just be c-careful!" Alphys warned.

"Right."

I followed the path back, but I also took a bit of a stroll off path. I wanted to clear my head. The news that Asriel wasn't coming back hit me like a brick. I needed time to process.

As I walked around, I noticed something. It was a statue of a monster, sitting all by its lonesome. Rain water was falling on it and nowhere else, no one even knew where the water came from, like... it was raining somewhere else.

I looked into the statue's eyes. It felt like... it was calling out to me.

"It must suck getting rained on all the time," I said to it.

I then remembered that there was a trash can somewhere near by full of umbrellas, as a later area was always raining, despite being underground. I grabbed one and put it in the statue's hand.

"There, much better. You feeling better?" I laughed to myself. They say talking to yourself is a indicator of going insane. But I didn't need that to know how crazy I was.

https/youtu.be/cuige6qfrLw

I heard the faint sound of music coming from the statue. It... sounded like a music box... The song was so pretty...

"That's... I guess I really did make you feel better, huh?" I asked the statue once again.

The tune was so simple, I began humming along with it. I then remembered that there was a piano in a back area of the cave. It had washed down there years ago, but no one knew where it came from, all we knew is that it worked.

I walked over to it, and played the song, just as the statue did. I played the first seven notes, and I was pretty happy with it, so I kept playing. After about ten minutes of playing, I stopped. I looked up, and realized there was a hole in the wall behind the piano. It definitely wasn't there before... at least... not that I knew of. Where did it come from?

I entered carefully, and it was just a simple room with one pedestal in the center, a red ball sat on top of it. It... looked like an orb of some kind.

"You want to grab the red orb," I heard a voice say.

"Who's there?!" I said, looking around. But no one was... had I just imagined it?

I... really did want to pick up the red orb, so I did.

"Thank you," the voice said again.

I turned again and no one was there. Where... did the voice come from? I almost didn't care anymore, because I felt... power coursing through me.

I heard the sound of something behind me and I turned quickly to see an Aaron behind me. Aaron's were monsters with the face and mane of a horse, the body of a bodybuilder with too many abs to count, and a fish tail, they floated around. It's eyes were yellow...

https/youtu.be/HbmrKgabATs

Everything went black and I put the red orb into my pocket and pulled my knife. "Stay back!"

Aaron charged quickly, I slashed once, doing negligible damage. He summoned a large muscled arm and hit me square in the soul, making me reel back. He even made me drop my knife, to which he broke.

Aaron's normally just went around flexing and trying to impress everyone else, so I wasn't sure how to remind him of who he was.

"You want to use your determination," the voice said again.

"I think I'm going insane," I said aloud.

"No silly, you're just hearing the source of your determination, do you want to save this monster? Prove it," it said. "You slash it with your knife."

"I lost my knife!" I argued aloud as Aaron impatiently waited for me to make my move.

"Not the toy knife, YOUR knife," it said.

Somehow... I knew what it was referring to me.

I jumped forward as if I was holding a knife and I slashed. Inside my hand, a knife, pure red, formed into my hand and I slashed through Aaron, almost killing him in one hit.

"That was... that was...," I said nervously.

"Magic!" Aaron said aloud as it's eyes turned back to normal. "I'm really sorry, I'm not sure what came over me! But if you look in your heart and my abs I believe you'll find it in you to forgive me!"

Had I not been so focused on what just happened I would've probably laughed. But of course, I chose Mercy and spared him.

I was a human... but I had just used magic...

I quickly left the area, but I happened to catch something else as well.

In a puddle, my own reflection... My eyes weren't blue anymore.

They were red.

Readability Level: 11-13th Grade

Time Taken: 3 Hours


	4. Chapter IV

Book I: The Vigilante

Chapter IV

"S-So you were a-able to t-t-turn the monsters back to n-normal just by s-simply reminding them of who th-they were?" Alphys asked, astounded.

"Yeah, it threw me off completely, honestly thought I was a goner," I replied.

My eyes had turned back to blue after I stopped fighting. It seemed that my new abilities only activated while I was in a fight.

"I-I noticed something else though," Alphys continued. "Wh-When you were fighting the Chilldrake and the Ts-Tsunderplane, both of them were one hit away fr-from dying, b-but they didn't ask for M-Mercy!"

I was confused. "I... never hit the Tsunderplane."

Alphys nodded. "Undyne had th-though."

I realized what that meant. "So if a monster more powerful than simple monsters attacks me... I can't show Mercy unless I remind them of who they were..."

Alphys nodded. "B-But hey! That m-means Undyne d-doesn't have to hurt them anymore!"

I shook my head. "I think she will try to anyway, she's not one to see logic in that."

"R-Right..."

We sat in silence for a bit before I finally pulled out the red orb.

Alphys jumped a little bit as she looked at it in pure shock. "Wh-What is that?! I-I can feel magic pouring out of it!"

"I don't know what it is, but it allows me to use my own magic."

"A-Astounding!" Alphys exclaimed. "I've always thought that h-humans used objects for m-magic manifestation, but I'd never b-been able to p-prove that theory!"

"I'm curious, I want to know it's limits..."

Alphys seemed to understand. "W-Well... lucky for you I n-need help!"

I looked at her curiously. "What do you need?"

Alphys began looking much more stern, as if she was wrestling with herself.

I waited for a bit, but she didn't seem like she was going to say anything.

"Alphys, did you need something?"

She seemed to snap out of it.

"Y-Yeah, but I need to t-tell you a story first..."

She pulled out two large bean bags, she... didn't exactly have any real furniture outside of a bed that folded up into a conveniently easy-to-describe box.

She looked very serious before finally sharing her story.

"L-Long ago, while monsters made the journey from the Ruins once c-called Home to New Home, where you live now, some of these monsters l-lost hope. F-For humans, d-determination comes freely, and if th-they lose hope, th-they don't suffer any ph-physical pain because of it. All m-monsters have a v-very finite and sm-small amount of determination. Th-They channel that into fighting, w-without actually knowing wh-what determination is like. The amount is so small th-they never even kn-know it's there. The only exception is b-boss monsters, like T-Toriel, Asgore, and Asriel. These m-monsters contain enough determination that e-even their souls linger f-for an incredibly short time a-after they die."

I shrugged. "This is all stuff I know."

Alphys nodded. "O-Of course... but wh-what you may n-not know is that when m-monsters lose hope, wh-when their undetectable amount of d-determination fails completely, th-they die."

"What's your point?"

"I wanted to try to r-resurrect them. I created a l-liquid form of determination and injected into their d-dust. Th-The result was a success! They became just like they w-were when they were alive! But... something terrible h-happened," Alphys stopped, caught her breath, and continued. "When m-monsters become determined, wh-when they refuse to die, they melt until they die."

I was shocked. "What happened to them?"

Alphys shook her head. "Th-they can't die b-because of the determination, so they m-melted into each other and b-became amalgamates. I couldn't l-let their f-family members know about th-this, so I h-hid them in a secret p-part of the l-lab that only the K-King and I know about."

"What do you need me to do?"

"S-Someone has been breaking in th-there, I'm n-not sure who, but I want you to st-stop whatever they're doing. There's even stuff I don't un-understand down there, no one remembers wh-where it all came from."

I nodded. "Alright... I'll go."

"Th-Thank you!" Alphys smiled, just a bit. "O-Oh, and the amalgamates m-may try to attack you. I-I haven't been able to put them at ease, so... i-if you could help remind them of wh-who they were, it m-might help them."

I nodded as Alphys opened a large white door in the lab, it had been an elevator this entire time.

Before I entered, my phone dinged. I had received a text from Undyne.

"Hey punk, something's come up, I can't make it to our hangout today. But you stay out of trouble, you hear me?!"

I laughed a bit. "Yeah, yeah. Take your time. Also someone told me you were in Hotland in your armor! You need to be more careful or your armor will cook you into the world's grouchiest fish stick!"

My phone dinged again. "Whatever! I'm way stronger than some dumb lava! I'll kick your butt next time I see you! Nah I'm only kidding you're too much of a princess, I'll see you later!"

I had honestly forgotten we were going to meet up today, I was really glad she had cancelled though.

I stepped into the elevator and pressed the "descend" button.

"R-Remember, you can't hurt the amalgamates, s-so please don't try," Alphys warned.

"Anyone ever tell you that you worry too much?" I teased. "I'll be careful."

As the elevator began its descent, I put on my hoodie and mask, I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I felt ready.

https/youtu.be/MaPNBugdsd8

As I walked out of the elevator, I looked around, it was dark, grimy, and it felt haunted. Chills ran up my spine as I looked around, the air made it feel hard to breathe, it felt... alive. I could even hear what sounded like voices talking over a distant radio. Everything felt distorted, lost to time. What monster would want to come here?

I began looking around immediately, there was one door that was locked with one unlit red light on it, but also a hallway to the left. There was a second door, also locked, but it had a red, blue, green, and yellow light, all unlit. The sign next to it said "Power Room".

I looked around a bit more and saw something out of the corner of my eye move, it was definitely a monster.

"Hey, you! Stop!" I shouted, running after it.

I watched it disappear behind a door and I ran through, but when I looked, the monster had disappeared.

I walked down the hallway to find a red key on the ground, and as I looked into the next room there was a red panel on the wall. I put the red key in the red panel and it lit up. I was no engineer, but I assumed that the door with the unlit red light would open now.

As I turned around to leave I noticed the door was blocked by some white... substance. I touched it and it shifted into some melty-looking monster. But... it wasn't scary, it seemed sad. However I wasn't about to let my guard down, because the world went black and I went into a fight.

https/youtu.be/Ky_XFCuz5AI

As the monster took shape, I noticed it looked just like a Snowdrake. I then remembered that Snowdrake's mom disappeared years ago, before I even fell down. Was this where she had ended up.

"S-So cold...," it said, in a voice that brought chills down my spine. She sounded so sad... so haunted...

I... wasn't sure what to do, but I felt I needed to Act. I knew her son loved puns, so I figured that might be a good place to start. Luckily my mom was a pun expert, and told me stupid jokes about every week, so this would be easy.

"Um... so what does a skeleton tile his roof with?" I asked it.

She stared at me longingly, like she had been waiting for her entire life. As if what I said now would define the rest of her existence... It honestly made me want to cry, but I stayed determined and tried to honestly tell the joke without my voice breaking. I wanted to cheer her up.

"Shingles!" I said, hiding how I truly felt with every bone in my body.

"Ha... ha...," her voice sounded so staticky, so weird. But she clearly enjoyed the joke.

It was her turn, and she attacked, but she only tossed a few bits of ice magic in my general direction, she didn't even try to hit me.

I had to use another one. "Why did the skeleton stay outside all night in the rain?" Why did I know so many skeleton jokes?

"He was a numbskull!"

"Th-Thank you...," she said with a tear in her eye before she disappeared and the world once again became colorful.

Was... every amalgamate like that? I wanted to think more on it, but I noticed the monster I was tracking to my left. It... was snickering.

"those weren't bad at all," it said, although judging by the voice I now knew it was a he.

He vanished right before my eyes and I turned around to see him behind me.

"How did you—?!" I cut myself off. "Look, I don't know who you are but you're trespassing, get out of here now! Don't make me tell you twice.

He chuckled a bit, I couldn't see his face from under his hoodie.

https/youtu.be/lXtwWBLLLbk

"you're a human right? that's hilarious," he said simply before everything faded to black.

My eyes turned red and a knife appeared in my hand.

"Fine have it your way!" I yelled.

I sliced into the air, and it created a red arc from the point of my knife, it then launched itself at the monster, however... it... missed? No! He dodged it!

"That's impossible! Monsters don't dodge like that!"

"did you think i was just going to stand there and take it?" he asked.

He held out his hand and my soul turned blue.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

He pushed his hand back and I was sent flying into the wall behind me. The attack did only one damage, but the physical force was too much for me, and I lost consciousness.

Readability Level: 11-12th Grade

Time Taken: 2 Hours


	5. Chapter V

Book I: The Vigilante

Chapter V

"Chara!" Mom called from the other room.

"Yes?" I asked as I approached her. This had been a few hours after I freaked out over that pink dress.

"Child, I made some adjustments, I think you'll find this color much better," she said with a smile as she held up the dress.

It was a silk dress, the same one as before, only this time it was green. She... had dyed it.

I stood, staring at it. I... was still scared of it, but Mom just held it up, waiting patiently for me to react. As I stared into the color, I felt it stare back, filling my own cognition with an emerald sheen. I found it calming, and after a deep breath, I found myself touching it.

"Thank you, Mom. I'll wear this," I replied.

I then heard someone calling me from the other room. I turned and ran down the hall, looking for it as it slowly got louder.

"Chara," it called.

"Coming!" I announced loudly as I ran towards it.

"Chara!" it called louder.

As I ran towards the sound, my feet began floating off the ground as my surroundings went black and I was overtaken by a bright light.

"W-Wake up Chara!" it shouted one last time.

"I'm awake!" I shouted as I was enveloped in light.

...

I shot up and looked around. White lights, everywhere. It was too bright, but my eyes began to adjust and I realized I was back in Alphys' lab.

I realized I was breathing heavy and clutching a red knife in my hand.

"Ch-Chara?" a voice called to me.

I turned to see Alphys sitting on the ground. She looked confused.

"I-It's me... c-calm down. Your eyes are st-still red!" she explained.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in and let it out. As I did, the knife disappeared and my eyes returned to blue.

"Sorry Alphys... I didn't hurt you, did I?" I asked as I tried to clear my head.

Alphys shook her head. "I-I jumped back j-just in time."

I sighed in relief. "How did I get back here?"

Alphys shrugged. "The elevator c-came back up and y-you were lying th-there. Although you we-were kind of c-cold."

I wanted to ask her about the test subjects. I wanted to ask why she kept them locked down there, but I was too worried about the monster that had attacked me.

"Alphys, a short monster was down there. He turned my soul blue and it was as if gravity changed. I fell back into the wall and he only did one damage to me. However, the sheer force of the attack was enough to end the fight," I explained. "I doubt he's still down there."

"Th-That's really o-odd...," Alphys said as she put her scaly, clawed hand on her chin in thought. "I-I'll see what I-I can find! B-But for now you n-need to get home! O-Or else Qu-Queen Toriel is g-gonna have a cow!"

At first I questioned what she was talking about, but then it hit me.

"The Monster Ball!" I said in a panicked voice. "Oh no I completely forgot! Oh... Mom's gonna kill me!"

I immediately grabbed my things and ran out the door.

"D-Don't forget to give M-Mettaton a tour! H-He's been looking f-forward to this!" Alphys shouted as I left.

"Will do!" I replied as I kept going.

https/youtu.be/Ii7OCuuVotc

Mettaton was one of Alphys' inventions, and probably one of her most brilliant inventions. There was a special breed of monsters in the Underground called ghosts. These monsters were incorporeal and constantly looked for vessels so that they could become corporeal again. One of these ghosts wanted to be a big movie star, and so Alphys created a big giant metal rectangular prism. Seriously, it was a robot, it had hands and moved around by balancing on a single wheel. It could also fly and had one hell of a voice, perfect for announcements. Today was his debut, where he'd try to fill one void in monsters' hearts, entertainment.

He really couldn't have picked a better venue to start at though. The Monster Ball was a large event held and open to all monsters in the Kingdom. It was run solely by the Queen herself, even if my dad tried to take some credit every now and then. They really were adorable when they had their arguments.

This year's Monster Ball was supposed to be the biggest one since they left the surface! Members from all over the Underground would all come to New Home just to dance and express themselves to each other. It's been hard since Asriel left, my mom had to fight back her tears just to keep doing it. But she insisted on doing it, because she knew it was one of his favorite events too. The Monster Ball was a huge change for all monsters to just be people, to feel united in each other's strength.

I even heard that Muffet, the leader of the Underground's spiders, was supposed to be there. She had never come before, so I wondered what changed her mind this time. Some say she wanted to petition that the King give spiders access to a heated limousine, so they can cross from the Ruins to Hotland, as Snowdin was too cold form them to traverse. It made sense, but still, I wondered if that was the only reason.

It also meant that I could spend more time with Undyne. Even though we were at odds while I was working, I still considered her one of my best friends.

All too soon, I ended up back home and immediately rushed in.

"Sorry guys! I got held up on the way back! But I'm here!" I yelled out quickly.

Mom seemed annoyed, but also very calm, she was always very patient.

"My child, you look like a mess! Go clean yourself silly, I left you a dress on your bed. Please get changed as soon as possible," she ordered.

"Yes Mom," I said respectfully as I ran ahead and got ready.

https/youtu.be/8YMzeKYBkMQ

I walked over to the fireplace and stood inside of it. Immediately, the fire cooked off all of the dirt and grime without burning me.

Monsters everywhere had different ways of cleaning themselves, boss monsters used fire. They could change the scent of the fire and make themselves smell much better just by fire magic alone.

I stood in the fire for a bit longer than I should've. I really loved the warmth of the flames as they relaxed my aching muscles. Eventually, I realized I needed to get a move on so I quickly ran to my room and threw off my clothes and tossed them on the floor.

As I did so, I heard my mom call from down the hall.

"Please clean up after yourself child! You won't want to clean up when you get home!" she shouted.

"Yes Mom!" I replied as I picked up my clothes, swearing to myself that she was psychic.

I then turned to the dress she laid out on my bed.

It was the same deep blue as my eyes, and made of silk, just like the one I had worn so many years before. I wanted to squeal, I normally hated all of this gross dress up stuff, but looking at this dress, I couldn't help but be excited!

It was spaghetti strap, and I was able to throw on a black cover on top of it to keep my shoulders warm.

I ran outside my room excitedly and my mom instinctively turned and looked at me.

"Oh you look so beautiful child!" she cheered.

I did a quick spin, the dress hugged my body, so it didn't lift or anything, which meant it fit correctly.

I had a pretty deep blush on my face as I turned to her. "You know I'm eighteen now, right Mom?"

Mom smiled very sweetly. "As long as you wish to call me Mom, I will gladly refer to you as my child."

I reached out and hugged her. Those words had meant so much to me, I couldn't imagine life without her. "Thanks Mom, I love you."

Mom hugged back tightly. "And I love you child. I know it's been hard, but you've been a beacon of determination for us all."

"More than you'll ever know!" a deeper voice interjected.

I turned around to see King Asgore himself, or, as I preferred to call him, Dad."

I ran and hugged him as well. "Hey Dad!"

"Hello child," he replied in his steady voice as he picked me up entirely, sitting me on one of his arms. "Have you been staying determined?"

My dad, just like Asriel and Mom, was a monster resembling a goat. However, he was much larger, pure muscle and magical power. However anyone who knew him knew he was just a big fluffy softy.

"Just like always!" I replied with a smile.

"Fluffy, you've been out in the garden! Don't get her dress dirty!" Mom scolded him.

"Oh right!" he exclaimed as he set me down carefully. "I shall go get washed up, I'll be back momentarily."

He then went back into his room. Mom went behind me and started wiping the dirt off of my butt.

"Hey! I can do that!" I squealed, jumping nervously.

"Fine, just get it done quick, we have to go soon," Mom reasoned.

About thirty minutes later, we were all ready to head out. I stood in between the two of them. Dad took my hand in his large, furry paw and Mom took my hand in hers.

And without any further delay, we headed towards the grand hall.

Readability Level: 9-10th Grade

Time Taken: 1.5 Hours


	6. Chapter VI

Book I: The Vigilante

Chapter VI

https/youtu.be/Oe3IivmUK0A

We enter into the hall, everything was a bright orange as the light from Hotland burst through the large paned windows. On them was the insignia of the Underground, the Deltarune. It was a circle with wings and three triangles underneath, one inverted. Monsters from all over the underground, dressed up in the fanciest of gowns and suits, were spinning around the floor. Dancing and twirling all over the floor. The sight had always made my heart skip a beat. It was so beautiful.

A monster in a suit greeted us. His entire body was completely engulfed in flames, but that didn't concern me. He was just a fire monster. Actually, I knew who he was.

"Grillby!" Dad responded enthusiastically. "How goes the burger joint? Business booming as ever."

Grillby nodded, as he never spoke like everyone else, no one even knew why. However anyone who knew the various tongues of the Underground knew how to understand him. It was all in the cackles of his fire.

It was customary for the King, Queen, and direct family to be the last to show. I took a look up at my mom, and she was already lost for words.

She looked at me and smiled kindly. "Go mingle, my child. And enjoy yourself! But please... stay safe."

I took the opportunity and walked around, listening in on the different hot topics and the gossip. It was all so... overwhelming.

"Did you hear Hotland has increased in temperature by five degrees?" one monster stated.

"Almost as hot as my wife!" another replied, followed by laughter.

Even I let out a bit of a giggle as I walked over to a different table.

"Did you hear? Two new monsters appeared in Snowdin!" A monster started.

"Really? Well I suppose that's not unheard of... After all, anything can come into the Underground, but nothing can leave."

A third monster chimed in. "And not to mention some monsters went to different areas of the Underground, and we lose track of them all the time."

"But even King Asgore doesn't know where these two came from!" the first one egged on.

"Impossible! King Asgore knows all monsters!" the second one argued.

"It's true!" a fourth one added. "They are two skeletons, they took over that abandoned house in Snowdin!"

"Really? I thought the humans had killed them all..."

At this point, I jumped into the conversation. Humans were a touchy subject for me, and most of the Underground knew that well.

"Guys have you tried the hamburgers?! Grillby really knows how to keep the food coming!" I said cheerfully.

They all jumped a bit at the sight of me.

"Oh Princess! You've gotten so big!"

They began saying the same phrases anyone hears when family members see them after any length of time. However I just stayed polite and had a decent conversation before deciding to move on.

"The riverboat person said 'Beware of the man that speaks in hands.' Any idea what they mean by that?" one said.

I was immediately disinterested and moved on to the next table.

"I really don't like Muffet, she brought a bunch of cider and donuts, but it makes me feel so uneasy," one monster said.

"She drives up the prices too! 9,999G for one donut?! Count me out!" another agreed.

"I hear it's for a good cause, I've heard she's desperate to unite the spiders across the Underground. Must be tough for her!"

"Where is the spider queen anyway?"

"She said she was feeling ill, she greeted Asgore and Toriel and then left."

That was a shame, I had really wanted to meet her. Although I had seen her earlier, she had bright, yellow eyes, cute pigtails, five eyes, and fangs. She was by all standards creepy, but she also seemed cute, kinda like a little doll.

I then spotted a big metal rectangle with a camera in front of it. I realized that Mettaton was recording the ball live.

"AND UP NEXT LADIES, GENTLEMONSTERS, AND THE WIDE VARIETY OF CREEPY CRAWLIES IN BETWEEN, IS THE KING AND QUEEN'S DANCE!" he announced in a very excited voice.

I was proud of him, I didn't know him that well, but he was so eccentric. It's like he was... well... built for this. I laughed at the thought, and then groaned at how dumb that joke was.

"Hello monsters of the Underground!" Toriel announced. "I would like to dedicate this dance to the strength of our wills, determination for the future, and our daughter, Princess Chara."

The dance floor was cleared entirely, and Mom and Dad took the floor as a different song began playing.

https/youtu.be/7glKIOo8PHQ

Dad put his large hand on Mom's hip, he then pulled her in suddenly and held her hand.

They began swaying back and forth to the tune of the music before they both slid in one direction.

In perfect harmony, they began spinning around each other and moving very methodically back and forth in a wavy circle around a fixed point on the floor.

The look on both of their faces was solemn and intense, and you could feel the heat as they'd pass by.

The monsters all watched, gazes locked onto them in pure awe as they danced in a beautiful rhythm.

Dad spun Mom by her arm before pulling her back in quickly.

As their bodies collided, they were engulfed in bright orange flames that harmlessly decorated the ground and the air. It was blinding for a moment, but the flames dispersed through the air, complementing the orange pillars and tile. It was breathtaking.

The dance then got more intense as the two began spinning around much faster.

He tucked her in, wrapping his hand around her while holding her hand before spinning her outwards. She rotated quickly, letting out sparks and flames from her feet as he pulled her back in.

He gripped her leg, lifting her up quickly, she jumped up off of him, creating a circle of fire in the sky before landing away from him.

Their hands and feet ignited as they rushed towards each other, coloring the air around them and gliding across the floor like they were on ice skates. They met and wrapped themselves into a spin as they flared around each other at an insane speed.

The audience hall erupted into applause and shouts of approval as the monsters were cued to join in.

Soon everyone, including myself was dancing with random strangers. Twirling and swaying all over the floor.

In a beautiful fashion, we began dancing the night away, until everyone was absolutely exhausted.

...

Around four in the morning, the monsters began going home and the cleaning crew went to work. Most of had fallen asleep in the chair provided, but that was expected.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked around. Usually my parents took me home and I woke up in my bed, but this time they had fallen asleep themselves. I laughed a bit, as they were laying on top of each other in a corner of the room.

I poked my dad. "Hey Dad, you fell asleep. It's probably best we go lay down in a bed."

He woke up slowly, before looking around, confused.

"Oh my apologies," he said groggily.

I giggled. "You're fine, just get up soon, the cleaning crew has work to do."

"Who made you King?" he asked jokingly.

"Just practicing," I teased.

I then left him alone so that he could wake up. But there was a second reason, Alphys had called me again.

I dialed her number and she picked up immediately.

"Why didn't you come to the party?" I asked immediately.

"O-Oh, I-I don't like being in p-public. N-No thanks! I-I just watched M-Mettaton's special. I-It was quite wonderful!" she replied awkwardly.

I knew she was anti-social, so I let it slide. "Ok but you'd better come to next years, you got it?!"

"O-Of course," she said. "B-But I need you back h-here! That m-monster came back into the True Lab! W-We need to stop... wh-whatever... he's doing?"

"You don't even know what he's doing?" I questioned.

"N-No, but with all the r-rogue monsters he might be b-behind it all!"

"Alright, I'll be right over."

Readability Level: 11-12th Grade

Time Taken: 1.5 Hours


	7. Chapter VII

Book I: The Vigilante

Chapter VII

I was once again in the True Lab, and it didn't feel any less terrifying than it did last time. The only difference was that the door on the right that was previously locked was lit up with a bright red light. The four with the four dim lights also now had a glowing red light.

I walked up to it and it opened, clearly that meant I needed to go through, but I didn't really want to...

I walked through and was met with a bunch of old hospital beds, all making this place seem even more creepy. There was a large ac system, like something you'd see in a warehouse, but it wasn't running. I headed through the north exit to hear a strange noise. It sounded like... running water? What were these human inventions doing in the lab?

I walked into the room to see a shower, and an odd figure lurking behind it. I slowly began walking towards it. Was this the monster... or something else?

I tip toed silently across the metal floor, approaching the curtain. I felt a chill go down my spine as I carefully gripped the curtain. I then pulled the shower curtain to the side quickly as a loud noise made me jump and almost fall on my rear.

I screamed before looking around, realizing nobody was there, and the noise was just my phone. Undyne was calling me.

I picked it up and answered it quickly.

"What do you want?!" I asked in an irritated manner.

She didn't take the hint that it was a bad time, not that I expected her too.

"Hey punk! I've only used spears for fighting, but what if I 'borrowed' your dad's trident!" she said enthusiastically.

I began continuing through the true lab, using Undyne's conversation to distract myself from everything else.

"Boss monsters generate their own weapon, it's the only physical weapon that can actually cast its own magic, and that's only because it's magic by origin," I tried explaining.

"Yes but can I stab someone with it?" Undyne asked.

"You could stab me, but it wouldn't be able to hit my soul, only it's magic energy could do that," I said, climbing over a hole and walking back to the room with the beds. I then realized I was lost.

"Awesome! It's just like that anime Alphys showed me!"

"I thought you hated nerd stuff," I teased.

"Anime's not nerdy! It's real!" she explained as I tried not to laugh. "You should really show me where you keep your flaming swords and giant robots. And one anime says you can use mind control! That's so cool!"

I giggled. "Undyne you shouldn't look at anime for historical advice, I promise you'd be better off."

"No way! This is way cooler than some dumb book!"

I then realized the monster was down the hall from me.

"Asgore's so ridiculously powerful! But I'm gonna beat him! I know it!" Undyne vowed.

"Hey... I'm gonna let you go, but let's hang out later, k?" I said casually.

"Yeah whatever, have a 'blessed day', Princess!" she teased.

"Yeah you too you fish stick," I snapped back before hanging up.

I approached carefully, and watched him silently. He picked up something up off the ground, let out a sigh, and put it back down.

I was preparing to engage him once again, but he stood up and walked... inside of a locker?

I was confused, so I opened the locker quickly to find it empty. There was no secret passage, no switches, nothing was even hollowed out...

I closed the locker to see him directly to the left of me.

"people might think you're weird if they see you staring at an empty locker for so long," he said.

I still couldn't see his face from under his hood.

"Why are you down here again?!" I questioned.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "studying for a science test."

"Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?" I asked, unamused.

"kid, my whole life is a joke. honestly still waiting for the punchline."

"Well I'm tired of your act," I joked back, but in a more serious fashion.

He put a piece of paper in my hand. "then i guess i'll see you around."

I looked down at the paper, and by the time I looked up, he was already gone.

The paper didn't say anything useful on it, it was just a coupon for Grillby's.

"Damnit!" I said aloud before letting out a long sigh.

I then decided I still didn't like the True Lab and went back to see Alphys.

...

"B-But monsters can't teleport!" Alphys argued.

"Well he didn't just disappear into thin air!" I snapped back.

"T-To be honest, th-that's more believable. U-Undyne does that all the t-time to sc-scare opponents!"

I had never seen her do that before... But honestly that seemed like the whole point.

"Look, I don't know what he was but he gave me this coupon. Maybe he lives near Grillby's?" I began thinking.

"W-Well, lucky for you, I-I thought ahead! I-I planted a d-device to r-read m-monster magical energy a-and—" Alphys began before I interrupted her.

"The point?"

"O-Oh... right," she said, a little flustered. "I-I can f-find our wh-what kind of monster he is!"

"Alphys that's brilliant!" I complemented.

"Th-The results should be in any second!" she said as she began looking up at her big computer screen.

In big, bold letters, the screen said, "RESULTS: INCONCLUSIVE"

"I imagine that's not good," I pointed out.

"Th-That's impossible!" Alphys exclaimed nervously. "This c-c-computer has r-record of every monster in the un-underground! K-King Asgore himself verified it!"

A thought echoed in my head, something I had heard before... at the monster ball.

"What if it was a monster my dad didn't know?" I questioned.

"A-Asgore knows all m-monsters though! But that w-would explain the results."

"I heard a rumor at the monster ball. Two skeletons appeared one day in Snowdin, I bet they might be the culprits," I put together.

"W-Well, the day's st-still young! L-Let's go catch this monster!" Alphys exclaimed excitedly.

I was excited too, but I was also nervous. There was an aura of power to this monster, would my determination be enough to beat him?

There was only one way to find out.


	8. Chapter VIII

Book I: The Vigilante

Chapter VIII

"HYPER GONER!" Asriel squealed out at me.

I couldn't help but laugh. "What kind of attack name is that?"

I swore Asriel had literal stars in his eyes.

"It's my ultimate attack when I absorb seven human souls and become a god!" he announced excitedly. "I'll be Asriel Dreemurr, god of hyperdeath!"

"Hyperdeath huh? Sounds pretty scary," I said sarcastically, knowing he'd never pick up on it.

"I'll be the scariest!" he confirmed, before looking more serious. "Oh, but I'll make sure not to hurt you, promise!"

I couldn't help but giggle at that one. "Hurt me? If you hurt me I'll kick your butt!"

"But you can't beat a god!" he argued.

"Oh no?" I asked before tackling him.

"Ow! Hey that hurts!" he laughed out.

I then got off of him and we laughed for a bit.

It was those days that I honestly missed...

...

I had made my way to Snowdin rather quickly, but I had to ditch my vigilante getup. fighting in remote areas was one thing, but showing up in town when I wasn't sure what people thought of me was a different story. I kept my head down anyway, because the human princess has a habit of attracting attention as well.

Lucky for me, the house in question was near the outskirts of town and not in the center.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I loud, very pronounced voice said, scaring the living crap out of me.

I jumped and turned around to see a really tall monster, and one I didn't recognize.

"Oh well... you see..," I began, but he cut me off.

"AH, I SEE. YOU WOULD LIKE TO ENTER MY HOUSE!" he announced loudly.

I looked closer to realize that this was one of the skeletons, he was wearing a bright white and red costume with a red cape, it honestly look pretty ridiculous.

"WELL LOOK NO FURTHER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO LET RANDOM STRANGERS INTO MY HOME," he said cheerfully with the most innocent smile I had ever seen.

Was this a trap?

"Are you for real? This seems like a trap," I pointed out.

"TRAP?! OF COURSE IT'S A TRAP!" he confirmed. "ONCE YOU ENTER, YOU WILL

NEVER WANT TO LEAVE!"

I was... needless to say, confused.

However, before I could say another word he picked me up and skipped happily into the house and set me down in his living room.

"WELCOME TO MY HOUSE OF PURE UNRIVALED GREATNESS, FRIEND!" he announced. He then proceeded to stand there, as if waiting for me to do... literally anything.

"Do you know where I can find a smaller skeleton?" I asked, unsure of what to do at this point.

Papyrus nodded. "OF COURSE, MY LAZY GOOD-FOR-NOTHING BROTHER IS UPSTAIRS."

"Thanks, I'm going to go meet him," I said before walking up stairs.

Papyrus put his large, red-gloved hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

"I'M WARNING YOU FRIEND..," he said in a sudden serious voice. "MY BROTHER... HE'S..., NOTHING BUT A LAZY BAG-O-BONES! YOU MAY NOT FIND ANYTHING IN THERE! BEST OF LUCK!"

I nodded and continued upstairs, stopping before his door. I put my hand around the doorknob and tried to turn it, but it was locked.

"Papyrus, why is it—" I stopped, realizing he had left out the door already. He was definitely weird.

I wanted to open the door, I was determined to find out who this monster was.

In the midst of these thoughts, a bright red light emanated from my red orb, and a bright red key manifested into my hand.

"You unlock the door," the voice in my head said.

It was the same one that spoke when I picked up the orb in the first place.

And just as it had said, I opened the door.

All was pitch black, I couldn't see a thing.

The door closed behind me and I carefully began walking forward, and yet, I found no end to this room. I began walking faster, where was I? How big was this room? I wondered if I'd ever find my way out.

Out of nowhere, light cut into the room as someone hit a light switch. I looked around to see a rather messy room, and I... was standing on a treadmill? Had I been walking on a treadmill the whole time?

I then noticed there was a small swivel chair in front of me, turned away from me.

"so... you finally came," he said, I knew it was his voice.

The chair swiveled around and I saw a small skeleton with a huge smile on his face, holding and petting a... loaf of bread?

"heya, I'm sans, sans the skeleton. nice to meetcha," he said in a deeper, carefree voice.

"Uh...," I uttered aloud. "Hi?"

"you're human right? that's hilarious," Sans continued.

At one point I had dozens questions in my head, but now I couldn't remember any of them. I was honestly so confused.

"Why are you holding a loaf of bread?" was the one I decided to ask.

He casually looked down at it. "oh this? it's my pet. he's a 'purebread'."

I wanted to groan.

He chuckled. "not a fan?" He then proceeded to stand up as he casually chucked the loaf of bread over his head and across the room. It hit the wall and made a sharp yelp like a dog would and I winced.

"sorry buddy, my bad," Sans apologized as the purebread scooted away, whimpering.

"welp, anyway i imagine you have a skele-ton of questions, so how about you follow me to my bro's kitchen," he recommended as he opened his closet.

Nothing made sense to me.

"Thats your closet," I pointed out.

"it's a shortcut," he assured.

I followed him, and as he shut the door we were in the downstairs kitchen.

...What the hell was that?

"pretty nifty shortcut, huh?" he asked, with the unchanging smile still glued to his face.

I finally snapped out of it and decided to get some answers.

"Look I-"

"wanna know why i'm hanging around in the true lab, right?" he finished. "well you won't see me down there anymore, so fogedaboudit."

"So you don't have anything to do with the monsters losing their minds?" I interrogated further, noticing that his eyes weren't yellow.

"if i were you kid, i'd be more concerned about the monsters who are already affected, like that spider queen," he hinted. "eh, then again, if i were you i'd have already given up, but to each their own."

"Muffet? What do you me-" I then realized what he meant.

"She has big yellow eyes," I remembered saying to Alphys. That's why she had left the ball early...

"there's something else too, isn't there?" he questioned me. It's as if he could see right through me.

"The affected monsters have yellow eyes, but only I can see them from what I can tell. Is it because I'm human?"

"probably," Sans shrugged. "i'm gonna go take a nap, i'm feeling bone tired."

I casually looked into the living room to see Sans sitting on the couch. I immediately looked back quickly to see him still next to me. I looked again to see him waving at me from the couch.

"everything ok kid?" he asked from the kitchen.

I looked back at the couch and he wasn't there anymore. Were there two of him?"

"looks like you need a nap too. doesn't really bother me what you do, but a nap sounds safer."

"Can you teleport?" I questioned.

"sounds as fictional as you or me, kid."

"What?" I asked for clarification.

Sans laughed. "oh don't worry about it, someone'll understand that. or maybe not."

He then proceeded to walk into the cabinet under the sink and close the door.

I immediately opened it again, to see that he wasn't in there. I was officially certain he could teleport now...

My mostly confused thoughts were interrupted by my phone ringing. It was Alphys.

"What's up Alph?" I asked.

"Chara! Big tr-trouble! Sp-Spiders have recently been stealing p-people's money!" she said quickly.

Of all the sentences I thought I'd hear before, that wasn't one of them.

"Yeah and I know why, I'm on my way," I responded.

"But this isn't over, Sans. I will understand you," I promised to myself.

Readability Level: 9-10th Grade

Time Taken: 3 Hours

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